So that no man can be his own Priest to reconcile himself to God by what he can do or suffer And therefore one that is able by doing and suffering to reconcile him must undertake it or we perish Thus you see plainly and briefly the general nature and necessity of Christs Priesthood From both these several useful Corollarys or practical deductions offer themselves Corollary 1. This shews in the first place the incomparable excellency of the reformed Christian Religion above all other Religions known to or professed in the world What other Religions seek the Christian Religion only finds even a solid foundation for true peace and settlement of conscience While the Iews seek it in vain in the Law the Mahumetan in his external and ridiculous observances the Papist in his own merits the Believer only finds it in the blood of this great sacrifice this and nothing less than this can pacifie a disâ—â—â—â—sed conscience labouring under the weight of its own guilt Conscience demands no less to satisfie it than God demands to satisfie him The grand inquest of conscience is Is God satisfied If he be satisfied I am satisfied Woful is the state of that man that feels the worm of conscience nibling on the most tender part of the soul and hath no relief against it That feels the intollerable scalding wrath of God burning within and hath nothing to cool it Hear me you that slight troubles of conscience that call them fancies and melancholly whimsies if you ever had had but one sick night for sin if you had ever felt that shame fear horror and despair which are the dismal effects of an accusing and condemning conscience you would account it an unspeakable mercy to hear of a way for the discharge of a poor sinner from that guilt You would kiss the feet of that messenger that could bring you tydings of peace You would call him blessed that should direct you to an effectual remedy Now whoever thou art that pinest away in thine iniquities that droopest from day to day under the present wounds and dismal presages of conscience know that thy soul and peace can never meet till thou art perswaded to come to this blood of sprinkling The blood of this sacrifice speaks better things than the blood of Abel The blood of this sacrifice is the blood of God Act. 20.28 invaluably pretious blood 1 Pet. 1.18 one drop of it infinitely excels the blood of all other creatures Heb. 10.4 5 6. Such is the blood that must do thee good Lord I must have such blood saith conscience as is capable of giving thee full satisfaction or it can give me no peace The blood of all the Cattle upon a thousand Hills cannot do this What is the blood of beasts to God The blood of all the men in the world can do nothing in this case What is our polluted blood worth No no it 's the blood of God that must satisfie both thee and me Yea Christs blood is not only the blood of God but it 's blood shed in thy stead and in thy place and room Gal. 3.13 He was made a curse for us And so it becomes sin pardoning blood Heb. 9.22 Eph. 1.7 Col. 1.14 Rom. 3.26 And consequently conscience pacifying and soul quieting blood Col. 1.20 Eph. 2.13 14. Rom. 3.26 O bless God that ever the news of this blood came to thine ears With hands and eyes lifted up to Heaven admire that grace that cast thy lot in a place where this joyful sound rings in the ears of poor sinners What had thy case been if thy mother had brought thee forth in the desarts of Arabia or in the wastes of America or what if thou hadst been nursed up by a Popish father who could have told thee no other remedy when in distress for sin but to go such a pilgrimage to whip and lash thy self to satisfie an angry God! Surely the pure light of the Gospel shining upon this generation is a mercy never to be duly valued never to be enough prized Corollary 2. Hence also be informed of the necessity of faith in order to a state and sense of peace with God For to what purpose is the blood of Christ our sacrifice shed unless it be actually and personally applyed and appropriated by faith You know when the sacrifices under the Law were brought to be slain he that brought it was to put his hand upon the head of his sacrifice and so it was accepted from him to make an attonement Lev. 1.4 Not only to signifie that now it was no more his but Gods the propriety being transferred by a kind of manumission nor yet that he voluntarily gave it to the Lord as his own free act but principally it noted the putting off his sins and the penalty due to him for them upon the head of the sacrifice and so it implyed in it an execration as if he had said upon thy head be the evil So the Learned observe the Ancient Aegyptians were wont expresly to imprecate when they sacrificed If any evil be coming upon us or upon Aegypt let it turn and rest upon this head laying their hand at these words on the sacrifices head And upon that ground saith the Historian none of them would eat of the head of any living creature You must also lay the hand of faith upon Christ your sacrifice not to imprecate but apply and appropriate him to your own souls he having been made a curse for you To this the whole Gospel tends even to perswade sinners to apply Christ and his blood to their own souls To this he invited us Matth. 11.28 Come unto me ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest For this end our sacrifice was lifted up upon the Altar Joh. 3.14 15. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life The Effects of the Law not only upon the conscience filling it with torments but upon the whole person bringing death upon it are here shadowed out by the stingings of fiery Serpents and Christ by the brazen Serpent which Moses exalted for the Israelites that were stunâ— to look unto And as by looking to it they were healed so by believing or looking to Christ in faith our souls are healed Those that looked not to the Brazen Serpent died infallibly so must all that look not to Jesus our sacrifice by faith It 's true the death of Christ is the meritorious cause of remission but faith is the instrumental applying cause and as Christs blood is necessary in its place so is our faith in its place also For to the actual remission of sin and peace of conscience there must be a co-operation of all the causes of remission and peace As there is the grace and love of God for an efficient and impulsive cause and the death of Christ our
we can finish none of ours And so though we be defective poor imperfect creatures in our selves yet notwithstanding we are compleat in him Col. 2.9 10. though we cannot perfectly obey or fulfil one command of the Law yet is the righteousness of the Law fulfilled in us that believe Rom. 8.4 Christs compleat obedience being imputed to us makes us compleat and without fault before God It is true we ought to be humbled for our defects and troubled for every failing in obedience but we should not be discouraged though multitudes of weaknesses be upon us and many infirmities compass us about in every duty we put our hand to Though we have no righteousness of our own yet of God Christ is made unto us righteousnes and that righteousness of his is infinitely better than our own Instead of our own we have his i. e. we have gold for dung O blessed be God for Christs perfect righteousness Inference 2. Did Christ finish his work with his own hand How dangerous and dishonourable a thing is it to join any thing of our own to the righteousness of Christ in point of Iustification before God! Jesus Christ will never endure this It reflects upon his work dishonourably He doth not in this case affect social glory Not I and my God I and my Christ did this he will be all or none in your Justification If he have finished the work what need of our additions And if not to what purpose are they Can we finish that which Christ himself could not But we would fain be sharing with him in this honour which he will never endure Did he finish the work by himself and will he ever divide the glory and praise of it with us No no Christ is no half Saviour O it 's an hard thing to bring these proud hearts to live upon Christ for righteousness We would fain add our penny to make up Christs Sum. But if you will have it so or have nothing to do with Christ you and your penny must perish together Isai. 50. ult God gives us the righteousness of Christ as he gave mannah to the Israelites in the wilderness It 's said Deut. 8.16 That he fed them with Mannah in the wilderness that he might humble them The quality of the food was not humbling for it was Angels food but the manner of giving it was so They must live by faith upon God for it from day to day This was not like other food produced by their own labour Certainly God takes the right way to humble proud nature in calling sinners wholly off from their own righteousness to Christ for their Justification Inference 3. Did Christ finish his work for us Then there can be no doubt but he will also finish his work in us As he begun the work of our redemption and finished it so he that hath begun the good work in you will also finish it upon your souls And of this the Apostle saith he is confident Phil. 1.6 Jesus Christ is not only called the Author but also the Finisher of our faith Heb. 12.2 If he begin it no doubt but he will finish it And indeed the finishing of his own work of redemption without us gives full evidence that he will finish his work of Sanctification within us And that because these two works of Christ have a respect and relation to each other and such a relation that the work he finished by his own death resurrection and ascension would be in vain to us if the work of sanctification in us should not in like manner be finished Therefore as he presented a perfect sacrifice to God and finished redemption-work so will he present every man perfect and compleat for whom he here offered up himself For he will not loose the end of all his sufferings at last To what purpose would his meritorious impetration be without compleat and full application Be not therefore discouraged at the defects and imperfections of your inherent grace Be humbled for them but be not dejected by them This is Christs work as well as that That work is finished and so will this Inference 4. Is Christs work of Redemption a compleat and finishing work How excellent and comfortable beyond all compare is the method and way of faith Surely the way of believing is the most excellent way in which a poor sinner can approach God for it brings before him a compleat intire perfect righteousness and this must needs be most honourable to God most comfortable to the soul that draws nigh to God O what a compleat finished perfect thing is the righteousness of Christ The sharp eye of the holy and jealous God cannot find the least flaw or defect in it Let God or Conscience look upon it Turn it every way view it on every side throughly weigh and examine it it will appear a pure a perfect piece containing in it whatsoever is necessary for the reconciling of an angry God or pacifying of a distressed and perplexed soul. How pleasing therefore and acceptable to God must be that faith which presents so compleat and excellent an attonement to him Hence the acting of our faith upon Christ for our righteousness the approaches of Faith to God with such an acceptable present is called the work of God That is the most grateful acceptable and well pleasing work to God that a creature can perform Joh. 6.29 This is the work of God that ye believe One act of faith pleases him more than if you shoul toil and drudge all your lives at a task of obedience to the Law As it 's more for Gods honour and thy comfort to pay all thou owest him at one round payment in one full sum than to make a dribling payment by a penny a day and never be able to make full payment or see the bond cancelled This perfect work only produces perfect peace Inference 5. Did Christ work and work out all that God gave him to do till he had finished his work How necessary then is a laborious working life to all that call themselves Christians The life of Christ you see was a laborious life Shall he work and we play Shall a zealous active working Christ be reproached with idle negligent and lazy fellows O work and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 But if Christ wrought so hard we may sit still If he finished the work nothing remains for us to do Nothing of that work which Christ did remains for you to do It 's your commendation and duty to leave all that to Christ but there 's other work for you to do Yea store of work lying upon your hands You must work aâ— well as Christ though not for the same ends Christ did He wrought hard to satisfie the Law by fulfilling all righteousness He wrought all his life long to work out a righteousness to Justifie you before God This work falls to no hand but Christs
that is believe they shall be made good to you so far as God sees them good for you Do you but labour to come up to those conditions required in you and thereby God will have more glory and you more comfort If your prayers for these things proceed from pure ends the glory of God not the satisfaction and gratification of your lusts If your desires after them be moderate as to the measure content with that proportion the infinite wisdom sees fittest for you If you take Gods way to obtain them and dare not strain Conscience or commit a sin though you should perish for want If you can patiently wait Gods time for enlargements from your straits and not make any sinful haste You shall be surely supplied And he that remembers your souls will not forget your bodies But we live by sense and not by faith Present things strike our affections more powerfully than the invisible things that are to come The Lord humble his people for this Diduction 4. Is this the priveledge of believers that they can commit their souls to God in a dying hour then how pretious how useful a grace is faith to the pleople of God both living and dying All the graces have done excellently but faith excels them all Faith is the Phoenix grace the Queen of graces Deservedly is it stiled pretious faith 2 Pet. 1.1 The benefits and priviledges of it in this life are unspeakable and as there is no comfortable living so no comfortable dying without it First While we live and converse here in the world all our comfort and safety is from it for all our union with Christ the fountain of mercies and blessings is by faith Eph. 3.17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith No faith no Christ. All our communion with Christ is by it He that cometh to God must believe Heb. 11.6 The souls life is wrapt up in this communion with God and that communion in faith All communications from Christ depend upon faith for look as all communion is founded in union so from our union and communion are all our communications All communications of quicknings comforts joy strength and whatsoever serves to the well-being of the life of grace are all through that faith which first knit us to Christ and still maintains our communion with Christ believing we rejoyce 1 Pet. 1.8 The inner man is renewed whilst we look to the things that are not seen 2 Cor. 4.18 Secondly And as our life and all the supports and comforts of it here are dependent on faith so you see our death as to the safety and comfort of our souls then depends upon our faith He that hath no faith cannot commit his soul to God but rather shrinks from God Faith can do many sweet offices for your souls upon a death bed when the light of this world is gone and all joy ceases on earth It can give us sights of things invisible in the other world and those sights will breathe life into your souls amidst the very pangs of death Reader do but think what a comfortable foresight of God and the joys of salvation will be to thee when thine eye-strings are breaking Faith cannot only see that beyond the grave which will comfort but it can cling about its God and clasp Christ in a promise when it feels the ground of all sensible comforts trembling and sinking under thy feet My heart and my flesh faileth but God is the strength or rock of my heart and my portion for ever Reeds fail but the rock is firm footing Yea and when the soul can no longer tabernacle here it can carry the soul to God cast it upon him with Father into thy hands I commend my spirit O pretious faith Diduction 5. Do the souls of dying believers commend themselves into the hands of God Then let not the surviving relations of such sorrow as men that have not hope A Husband a Wife a Child is rent by death out of your arms well but consider into what arms into what bosom they are commended Is it not better for them to be in the bosom of God than in yours Could they be spared so long from Heaven as to come back again to you but one hour how would they be displeased to see your tears and hear your cries and sighs for them They would say to you as Christ said to the daughters of Ierusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and your children I am in a safe hand I am out of the reach of all storms and troubles O did you but know what their state is who are with God you would be more than satisfied about them Diduction 6. Lastly I will close all with a word of counsel Is this the priviledge of dying believers to commend their souls into the hands of God Then as ever you hope for comfort or peace in your last hour see that your souls be such as may be then fit to be commended into the hands of an holy and just God See that they be holy souls God will never accept them if they be not holy Without holiness no man shall see God Heb. 12.24 He that hath this hope viz. to see God purifieth himself even as he is pure 1 Joh. 3.3 Indeavours after holiness are inseparably connected with all rational expectations of blessedness Will you put an unclean filthy defiled thing into the pure hand of the most holy God O see they be holy and already accepted in the beloved or wo to them when they take their leaves of those tabernacles they now dwell in The gratious soul may confidently say then Lord Iesus into thy hands I commend my spirit O let all that can say so then now say Thanks be to God for Iesus Christ. The THIRTY SEVENTH SERMON JOH XIX XL XLI XLII Then took they the body of Iesus and wound it in linen cloaths with the spices as the manner of the Iews is to bury Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new Sepulchre wherein was never man yet laid There laid they Iesus therefore because of the Iews preparation day for the Sepulchre was nigh at hand YOU have heard the last words of dying Jesus commending his spirit into his Fathers hands and now the life of the world hangs dead upon a Tree The light of the world for a time muffled up in a dismal cloud The Son of Righteousness set in the region and shadow of Death The Lord is dead and he that wears the keys of the grave at his girdle is now himself to be lockt up in the grave All you that are the friends and Lovers of Jesus are this day invited to his â—â—neral Such a funeral as never was since Graves were first digged Come see the place where the Lord lay There are six remarkable particulars about this funeral in these three verses The preparations that were made for it and
us When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son Who would part with a Son for the sake of his dearest friends but God gave him to and delivered him for enemies O Love unspeakable 5. Lastly let us consider how freely this gift came from him It was not wrested out of his hand by our importunity for we as little desired as deserved it It was surprizing preventing eternal love that delivered him to us Not that we loved him but he first loved us 1 Ioh. 4.19 Thus as when you weigh a thing you cast in weight after weight till the scales break so doth God one consideration upon another to overcome our hearts and make us admiringly to cry what manner of Love is this And thus I have shewed you what Gods giving of Christ is And what matchless love is manifested in that incomparable gift Next we shall apply this in some practical Corolaries Corolary 1. Learn hence the exceeding preciousness of Souls and at what an high rate God values them that he will give his Son his only Son out of his bosom as a ransom for them Surely this speaks their preciousness God would not have parted with such a Son for small matters All the world could not redeem them Gold and Silver could not be their ransom 1 Pet. 1.18 So speaks the Apostle You were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious blood of Christ. Such an esteem God had of them that rather than they should perish Jesus Christ shall be made a man yea a curse for them O then learn to put a due value upon your own souls Don't sell that cheap which God hath paid so dear for Remember what a treasure you carry about you The glory that you see in this world is not equivolent in worth to it Matth. 16.26 What shall a man give in exchange for his Soul Corolary 2. If God have given his own Son for the world then it follows that those for whom God gave his own Son may warrantably expect any other Temporal mercies from him This is the Apostles Inference Rom. 8.32 He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up to death for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things And so 1 Cor. 3.21 22. All is yours for ye are Christs i. e. They hold all other things in Christ who is the Capital and most comprehensive mercy To make out the grounds of this comfortable deduction let these four things be pondered and duly weighed in your thoughts 1. No other mercy you need or desire is or can be so dear to God as Jesus Christ is He never layed any other thing in his bosom as he did his Son As for the world and the comforts of it it is the dust of his feet he values it not As you see by his providential disposals of it having given it to the worst of men All the Turkish Empire said Luther as great and glorious as it is is but a crum which the Master of the family throws to the Dogs Think upon any other outward enjoyment that 's valuable in your eyes and there is not so much compare betwixt it and Christ in the esteem of God as is betwixt your dear Children and the Lumber of your houses in your esteem If then God have parted so freely from that which was infinitly dearer to him than these how shall he deny these when they may promote his glory and your good 2. As Jesus Christ was nearer the heart of God than all these so Christ is in himself much greater and more excellent than them all Ten thousand worlds and the glory of them all is but the dust of the ballance if weighed with Christ. These things are but poor creatures but he is over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.5 They are the common gifts but he is the gift of God Joh. 4.10 They are ordinary mercys but he is the mercy Luk. 1.72 As one Pearl or precious stone is greater in value than ten thousand common pebbles Now if God have so freely given the greater how can you suppose he should deny the lesser mercys Will a man give to another a large inheritance and stand with him for a trifle How can it be 3. There is no other mercy you stand in want of but you are entitled to it by the gift of Christ. It is as to right conveyed to you with Christ. So in the forecited 1 Cor. 3.21 22 23. The world is yours yea all is yours for ye are Christs So 2 Cor. 1.20 For all the promises of God in Christ in him they are yea and in him Amen With him he hath given you all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 6.17 Richly to enjoy The word signifies rem aliquam cum laetitia percipere To have the sweet relish and comfort of an enjoyment So have we in all our mercys upon the account of our title to them in Christ. 4. Lastly if God have given you this nearer greater and all comprehending mercy when you were enemies to him and alienated from him it is not imaginable he should now deny you any inferiour mercy when you are come into a state of reconciliation and amity with him So the Apostle reasons Rom. 5.8 9 10. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life And thus you have the second Inference with its grounds Corolary 3. If the greatest love hath been manifested in giving Christ to the world then it follows that the greatest evil and wickedness is manifested in despising slighting and rejecting Christ. 'T is sad to abuse the love of God manifested in the lowest gift of providence but to sleight the richest discoveries of it even in that peerless gift wherein God commends his love in the most taking and astonishing manner this is sin with a witness Blush O heavens and be astonished O earth yea be ye horribly afraid No guilt like this The most flagitious wretches among the barbarous Nations are innocent in comparison of these But are there any such in the world Dare any slight this gift of God indeed if mens words might be taken there are few or none that dare do so but if their lives and practices may be believed this this is the sin of the far greater part of the Christianized world Witness the lamentable stupidity and supiness witness the contempt of the Gospel witness the hatred and persecution of his Image Laws and People What is the language of all these but a vile esteem of Jesus Christ. And now let me a little expostulate with these ungrateful souls that trample underfoot the Son of God That value not this love that gave him forth What is that mercy which you so contemn and undervalue Is it so vile and cheap a thing as your entertainment speaks it to
over them First He imposes a new Law upon them and enjoyns them to be severe and punctual in their obedience to it The soul was a Belialite before and could endure no restraint It 's Lusts gave it Law We our selves were sometimes foolish disobedient serving divers lusts and pleasures Tit. 3.3 What ever the flesh craved and the sensual appetite whined after it must have cost what it would cost if damnation were the price of it it would have it provided it should not be present pay Now it must not be any longer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without Law to God but under Law to Christ. Those are the articles of peace which the soul willingly signes in the day of its admission to mercy Matth. 11.29 Take my yoak upon you and learn of me This Law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus makes them free from the Law of sin and death Rom. 8.2 Here 's much strictness but no bondage For the Law is not only written in Christs Statute-book the Bible but coppied out by his spirit upon the hearts of his subjects in correspondent principles which makes obedience a pleasure and self-denial easie Christs yoak is lined with Love so that it never galls the necks of his people 1 Joh. 5.3 His commandments are not grievous The soul that comes under Christs government must receive Law from Christ and under Law every thought of the heart must come Secondly He rebukes and chastises souls for the violations and trangressions of his Law That 's another act of Christs Regal authority whom he loves he rebukes and chastens Heb. 12.6 7. These chastisements of Christ are either by the rod of providence upon their bodies and outward comforts or upon their spirits and inward comforts Sometimes his rebukes are smart upon the outward man 1 Cor. 11.30 For this cause many among you are weakly and sick and many sleep They had not that due regard to his body that became them and he will make their bodies to smart for it And he had rather their flesh should smart than their souls should perish Sometimes he spares their outward and afflicts their inner man which is a much smarter rod. He withdraws peace and takes away joy from the spirits of his people The hidings of his face are sore rebukes However all is for emendation not for destruction And it is not the least priviledge of Christs Subjects to have a seasonable and sanctified rod to reduce them from the waies of sin Psal. 23.3 thy rod and thy staff they comfort me Others are suffered to go on stubbornly in the way of their own hearts Christ will not spend a rod upon them for their good Will not call them to account for any of their transgressions but will reckon with them for altogether in Hell Thirdly Another Regal Act of Christ is the restraining and keeping back his servants from iniquity and withholding them from those courses which their own hearts would incline and lead them to For even in them there is a spirit bent to backsliding but the Lord in tenderness over them keeps back their souls from iniquity and that when they are upon the very brink of sin my feet were almost gone my steps were well nigh slipt Psal. 73.2 Then doth the Lord prevent sin by removing the occasion providentially or by helping them to resist the temptation gratiouslyly assisting their spirits in the trial So that no temptation shall befall them but a way of escape shall be opened that they may be able to bear it 1 Cor. 10.13 And thus his people have frequent occasions to bless his name for his preventing goodness when they are almost in the midst of all evil And this I take to be the meaning of Gal. 5.16 This I say then walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh Tempted by them ye may be but fulfil them ye shall not My spirit shall cause the temptation to die and wither away in the womb in the embrio of it so that it shall not come to a full birth Fourthly He protects them in his waies and suffers them not to relapse fom him into a state of sin and bondage to Satan any more Indeed he is restless in his endeavours to reduce them again to his obedience he never leaves tempting and soliciting for their return and where he finds a false professor he prevails but Christ keeps his that they depart not again Joh. 17.12 All that thou hast given me I have kept and none of them is lost but the son of perdition They are kept by the mighty power of God through faith to salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 Kept as in a Garrison according to the importance of that word None more solicited none more safe than the people of God They are preserved in Christ Iesus Jude 1. It is not their own grace that secures them but Christs care and continual watchfulness Our own graces left to themselves would quickly prove but weights sinking us to our own ruine As one speaks this is his Covenant with them Jer. 32.4 I will put my fear in their inwards and they shall not depart from me Thus a King he preserves them Fifthly As a King he rewards their obedience and encourages their sincere services Though all they do for Christ be duty yet he hath united their comfort with their duty This I had because I kept thy precepts Psal. 119.56 They are engaged to take this encouragement with them to every duty that he whom they seek is a bountiful rewarder of such as diligently seek him Heb. 11.6 O what a good master do the Saints serve Hear how a King expostulates with his Subjects Jer. 2.31 Have I been a barren wilderness on a land of darkness to you q. d. Have I been such a hard master to you Have you any reason to complain of my service To whomsoever I have been straight-handed surely I have not been so to you You have not found the waies or wages of sin like mine Sixthly He pacifies all inward troubles and commands peace when their spirits are tumultuous This peace of god Rules in their hearts Col. 3.15 it doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 act the part of an Umpire in appeasing strife within When the tumultuous affections are up and in a hurry when anger hatred and revenge begin to rise in the soul this hushes and stills all I will hearken saith the Church what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace to his people and to his Saints Psal. 85.8 He that saith to the raging Sea be still and it obeys him he only can pacifie the disquieted spirit They say of Frogs that if they be croaking never so much in the night bring but a light among them and they are all quiet Such a light is the peace of God among our disordered affections These are Christs Regal acts And he puts them forth upon the souls of his people powerfully
NINETEENTH SERMON PHIL. II. VIII And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death even the death of the cross THis Scripture hath been once already under consideration and indeed can be never enough considered It holds forth the humbled state of the Lord Jesus during the time of his abode on earth The sum of it was delivered you before in this point DOCT. That the state of Christ from his Conception to his Resurrection was a state of deep abasement and humiliation The Humiliation of Christ was proposed to us under the three general heads or branches of his Humiliation in his Incarnation his Humiliation in his life and his Humiliation in his death How he was humbled by Incarnation hath been opened above in the eighteenth Sermon How he was humbled in his life is the design of this Sermon yet expect not that I should give you here an exact History of the life of Christ. The Scriptures speak but little of the private part of his life and it is not my design to dilate upon all the memorable passages that the Evangelists those faithful Narrators of the life of Christ have preserved for us but only to observe and improve those more observable particulars in his life wherein especially he was humbled and such are these that follow First The Lord Jesus was humbled in his very Infancy by his Circumcision according to the Law For being of the stock of Israel he was to undergo the Ceremonies and submit to the Ordinances belonging to that people and thereby to put an end to them for so it became him to fulfil all Righteouness Luk. 2.21 And when eight daies were accomplished for the Circumcising of the Child his name was called Iesus Hereby the Son of God was greatly humbled especially in these two respects First In that hereby he obliged himself to keep the whole Law though he were the Law-maker Gal. 5.3 For I testifie again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole Law The Apostles meaning is he is a debtor in regard of duty because he that thinks himself bound to keep one part of the Ceremonial Law doth thereby bind himself to keep it all for where all the parts are inseparably united as they are in the Law of God we pull all upon us by engaging or medling with any one And he that is a debtor in duty to keep the whole Law quickly becomes a debtor in regard of penalty not being able to keep any part of it Christ therefore coming as our surety to pay both those debts the debt of duty and the debt of penalty to the Law he by his circumcision obliges himself to pay the whole debt of duty by fulfilling all Righteousness and though his obedience to it was so exact and perfect that he contracted no debt of penalty for any transgression of his own yet he obliges himself to pay that debt of penalty we had contracted by suffering all the pains due to transgressors This was that intollerable yoak that none were able to bear but Christ. Acts 15.10 And it was no small abasure of Christ to bind himself to the Law as a Subject made under it For he was the Law-giver above all Law and herein that Soveraignty of a God one of the choice flowers in the Crown of Heaven was obscured and vailed by his subjection Secondly Hereby he was represented to the world not only as a Subject but also as a Sinner For though he was pure and holy yet this ordinance passing upon him seemed to imply as if corruption had indeed been in him which must be cut off by mortification For this was the mysterie principally intended by circumcision It served to mind and admonish Abraham and his seed of the natural guiltiness uncleanness and corruption of their hearts and natures So Jer. 4.4 Circumcise your selves unto the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts ye men of Judah i. e. the sinfulness and corruption of them Hence the rebellious and unmortified are called stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart as it is Acts 7.51 and as it served to convince of natural uncleanness so it signified and sealed the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh as the Apostle phraseth it Col. 2.11 Now this being the end of God in the institution of this ordinance for Abraham and his ordinary seed Christ in his infancy by submitting to it did not only vail his Soveraignty by subjection but was also represented as a sinner to the world though most holy and pure in himself Secondly Christ was humbled by persecution and that in the very morning of his life He was banisht almost as soon as born Matth. 2.13 Flee into Aegypt saith the Angel to Ioseph and be thou there until I bring thee word for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him Ungrateful Herod was this entertainment for a Saviour what raise the Country against him as if a destroyer rather than a Saviour had landed upon the coast what deny him the protection of those Laws under which he was born and that before he had broken the least punctilio of them the child of a beggar may claim the benefit and protection of Law as his birthright and must the Son of God be denied it But herein he fulfilled the Scriptures whilst venting his own lusts For so it was foretold Ier. 31.15 And this early persecution was not obscurely hinted in the title of the 22 Psalm that psalm which looks rather like an History of the new than a prophecy of the old Testament For as it contains a most exact description of Christs sufferings so it 's fitted with a most suitable Title To the chief Musitian Aiâ—eleth Shabar which signifies the Hind of the morning or that Deer which the Hunter rouzes betime in the morning and singles out to hunt down that day And so they did by him as the 16. verse will tell you for saith he Dogs have compassed me the Assemble of the wicked have enclosed me Upon which Musculus sweetly and ingeniously descants O what sweet Venison saith he is the flesh of Christ abundantly sweeter to the believing soul than that which the Nobles of this world esteem most delicate And lest it should want the highest and richest favour to a delicate palate Christ our Hart was not only killed but hunted to the purpose before he was killed even as great men use by hunting and chasing before they cut the throat of the deer to render its flesh more sweet tender and delicate Thus was Christ hunted betimes out of the Country he was born in And no doubt but where such dogs scent and wind the Spirit of Christ in any they would pursue them also to destruction did not a gratious providence rate them off But to return how great an Humiliation is this to the Son of God not only to become an Infant but in his
Physitian This was one of those things that made him a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs For the more holy any is the more he is grieved and afflicted for the sins of others and the more tender any man is the more he is pierced with beholding the miseries that lie upon others And it is sure never any heart more holy or more sensible tender and compassionate than Christs Sixthly Lastly That which yet helped to humble him lower was the ungrateful and most base and unworthy entertainment the world gave him He was not received or treated like a Saviour but as the vilest of men One would think that he who came from Heaven to give his life a ransom for many Matth. 20.28 He that was not sent to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved Joh. 3.17 He that came to disolve the works of the Devil 1 Joh. 3.8 knock off the chains open the prison doors proclaim liberty to the captives Isai. 61.1 I say when such a Saviour arrived O with what acclamations of Joy and demonstrations of thankfulness should he have been received One would have thought they should even kiss the ground he trod upon but instead of this he was hated Ioh. 15.18 He was despised by them Matth. 13.55 So reproached that he became the reproach of men as who should say a corner for every one to spet in A butt for every base tongue to shoot at Psal. 22.6 Accused of working his miracles by the power of the Devil Matth. 12.24 He was trod upon as a worm Psal. 22.6 They buffeted him Matth. 26.67 Smote him on the head Matth. 27.30 Arrayâ—d him as a fool verse 29. Spet in his face verse 30. Despised him as the basest of men this fellow said Matth. 26.61 One of his own followers sold him another forswear him and all forsook him in his greatest troubles All this was a great abasement to the Son of God who was not thus treated for a day or in one place but all his daies and in all places He endured the contradictions of sinners against himself In these particulars I have pointed out to you something of the humbled life Christ lived in the world From all which particulars some useful inferences will be noted Inference 1. From the first degree of Christs Humiliation in submitting to be circumcised and thereby obliging himself to fulfil the whole Law it follows That Iustice it self may set both hand and seal to the acquittances and discharges of Believers Christ hereby obliged himself to be the Laws pay-master to pay it its utmost demand To bear that yoak of obedience that never any before him could bear And as his circumcision obliged him to keep the whole Law so he was most precise and punctual in the observation of it So exact that the sharp eye of divine justice cannot espie the least flaw in it But acknowledges full payment and stands ready to sign the Believer a full acquittance Rom. 3.25 That God may be just and the Iustifier of him that believes in Iesus Had not Christ been thus obliged we had never been discharged Had not his obedience been an intire compleat and perfect thing our justification could not have been so He that hath a pretious treasure will be loth to adventure in a leaky vessel wo to the holiest man on earth if the safety of his pretious soul were to be adventured in the bottom of the best duty that ever he performed But Christs obedience and righteousness is tiâ—e and sound A bottom that we may safely adventure all in Inference 2. From the early flight of Christ into Aegypt we infer That the greatest innocency and piety cannot exempt from persecution and inâ—ury Who more innocent than Christ And who more persecuted The world is the world still I have given them thy word and the world hath hated them Joh. 17.14 The world lies in wait as a thief for them that carry this treasure they who are empty may sing before him he never stops them But persecution follows piety as the shadow doth the body 2 Tim. 3.12 All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer pâ—rsâ—cution Whosoever resolves to live holily must never expect to live quietly It 's godliness and godliness in Christ Iesus i. e. such as is derived from Christ true godliness and it 's true godliness as it 's manifested in practice All that will live godly that will exert holiness in their lives which convinces and galls the Consciences of the ungodly 'T is this enrages for there is an enmity and antipathy betwixt them and this enmity runs in a blood and it 's transmitted with it from generation to generation Gal. 4.29 As then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit even so it is now Mark so it was and so still it is Cains Club is still carried up and down redded with the blood of Abel saith Bucholtzer but thus it must be to conform us unto Christ and oh that your Spirits as well as your Conditions may better harmonize with Christ. He suffered meekly quietly and self-denyingly be ye like him Let it not be said of you as it is of the Hypocrite whose lusts are only hid but not mortified by his duties that he is like a flint which seems cold but if you strike him he is all fiery To do well and suffer ill is Christ-like Inference 3. From the third particular of Christs Humiliation I infer that such as are full of grace and holiness may be destitute and empty of creature-comforts What an an over-flowing fulness of grace was there in Christ. And yet to what a low ebb did his outward comforts sometimes fall and as it fared with him so with many others now in glory with him whilst they were in the way to that glory 1 Cor. 4.11 Even to this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and buffeted and have no certain dwelling place Their souls were richly cloathed with robes of Righteousness their bodies naked or meanly clad Their souls fed high even on hidden mannah their bodies hungry Let us be content said Luther with our hard fare for do we not feast with Angels upon that bread of life Remember when wants pinch hard that these fix no marks of Gods hatred upon you He hath dealt no worse with you than he did with his own Son Nay which of you is not better accommodated than Christ was if you be hungry or thirsty you have some refreshments you have beds to lie on the son of man had not where to lay his head The heir of all things had sometimes nothing to eat And remember you are going to a plentiful country where all your wants will be supplied Poor in the world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which God hath promised 2 James 5. The meanness of your present will add to the luster of your future
suited it with a temptation which fully hit his humour and it carries him immediately This is the dangerous Crisis of the soul. Now you shall see what it is and what it will do Put mony before Iudas and presently you shall see what the man is Corollary 5. Hence in like manner we are instructed That no man knows where he shall stop when he first engages himself in a way of sin Wickedness as well as holiness is not born in its full strength but grows up to it by insensible degrees So did the wickedness of Iudas I believe he himself never thought he should have done what he did and if any should have told him in the first beginning of his profession thou shalt sell thee blood of Christ for mony Thou shalt deliver him most perfidiously into their hands that seek his life he would have answered as Hasael did to Elisha But what is thy servant a Dog that he should do this great thing 2 Kings 8.13 His wickedness first discovered it self in murmuring and discontent taking a pipue at some small matters against Christ as you may find by comparing Iohn 6. from the 60. to the 70. verse with Iohn 12. from the 3. to the 9. verse but see to what it grows at last That Lust or Temptation that at first is but a little cloud as big as a mans hand may quickly overspread the whole heaven It is in our engaging in sin as in the motion of a stone down the hill Vires acquirit eundo it strengthens it self by going and the longer it runs the more violent Beware of the smallest beginnings of temptations No wise man will neglect or slight the smallest spark of fire especially if he see it among many barrels of gunpouder You carry gunpouder about you O take heed of sparks Corollary 6. Did Iudas sell Christ for mony What a potent conqueror is the love of this world How many hath it cast down wounded What great Professors have been dragged at its Chariot wheels as its captives Hymeneus and Philetus Ananias and Saphira Demas and Iudas with thousands and ten thousands since their daies led away in triumph It drowns men in perdition 1 Tim. 6.9 in that pit of perdition this Son of perdition fell and never rose more O you that so court and prosecute it that so love and admire it make a stand here Pause a little upon this example Consider to what it brought this poor wretch whom I have presented to you dead eternally dead by the mortal wound that the love of this world gave him it destroyed both soul and body Pliny tells us that the Mermaids delight to be in green meadows into which they draw men by their inchanting voices but saith he there alwaies lie heaps of dead mens bones by them A lively emblem of a bewitching world Good had it been for many Professors of Religion if they had never known what the riches and honours and pleasures of this world meant Corollary 7. Did Iudas fansie so much happiness in a little mony that he would sell Christ to get it Learn then That which men promise themselves much pleasure and contentment in in the way of sin may prove the greatest curse and misery to them that ever befel them in the world Iudas thought it was a brave thing to get mony he fancied much happiness in it but how sick was his Conscience assoon as he had swallowed it O take it again saith he it griped him to the heart He knows not what to do to rid himself of that mony Give me children said Rachel or I die she hath children and they prove her death O mortifie your fancies to the world Put no necessity upon riches They that will be rich fall into temptations and many hurtful Lusts which drown men in perdition 1 Tim. 6.9 You may have your desires with a curse He that brings home a pack of fine cloaths infected with the plague hath no such great bargain of it how cheap soever he bought them Corollary 8. Was there one and but one of the twelve that proved a Iudas a Traytor to Christ Learn thence That it is a most unreasonable thing to be prejudiced at Religion and the sincere professors of it because some that profess it prove naught and vile Should the Eleven suffer for one Iudas Alas they abhor'd both the Traytor and his treason As well might the High-Priest and his Servants have condemned Peter Iohn and all the rest whose souls abhorred the wickedness If Iudas proved a vile wretch yet there was Eleven to one that remained upright if Iudas proved naught it was not his profession made him so but his hypocrisie He never learnt it from Christ. If Religion must be charged with all the miscariages of its Professors then there is no pure Religion in the world Name that Religion among the Professors whereof there is not one Iudas Take heed Reader of prejudices against godliness on this account The design of the Devil without doubt is to undo thee eternally by them Wo to the world because of offences Matth. 18.7 And what if God do permit these things to fall out that thou maist be hardened in iniquity confirmed in sin by such occasions and so thy destruction brought about this way Blessed is he that is not offended at Christ. Corollary 9. Did Iudas one of the twelve do so Learn thence That a drop of grace is better than a sea of gifts Gifts have some excellency in them but the way of grace is the more excellent way 1 Cor. 12.31 Gifts as one saith are dead graces but graces are living gifts There 's many a learned head in Hell These are not the things that accompany Salvation Gifts are the gold that beautifies the Temple but grace is as the Temple which sanctified the gold One tear one groan one breathing of an upright heart is more than the tongues of Angels Poor Christian thou art troubled that thou canst not speak and pray so neatly so handsomly as some others can but canst thou go into a corner and there pour out thy soul affectionately though not rhetorically to thy Father trouble not thy self It 's better for thee to feel one divine impression from God upon thine heart than to have ten thousand fine notions floating in thy head Iudas was a man of parts but what good did they do him Corollary 10. Did the Devil win the consent of Iudas to such a design as this Could he get no other hand but the hand of an Apostle to assist him Learn hence That the policy of Satan lies much in the choice of his instruments he works by No bird saith one like a living bird to tempt others into the net Pelagius Socinus c. were fit persons for that work the Devil put them upon Austin told an ingenious young Scholar the Devil coveted him for an ornament He knows he hath a foul cause to manage and
themselves with his blood and satiate their revengeful hearts with such a spectacle of misery For lo as soon as these Wolves had griped their prey they were not satisfied with that cursed cruel and ignominious death of the Cross to which Pilate had adjudged him but they are resolved he shall die over and over they will contrive many deaths in one Now they say as a Tyrant did once moriatur ut sentiat se mori let him die so as he may feel himself to die i. e. let him die by inch-meal To this end they presently strip him naked scourge him cruelly array him in scarlet and mock him Crown him with a bush of platted thorns fasten that Crown upon his head by a blow with a cane which set them deep into his sacred Temples Sceptered him with a reed spet in his face strip off his mock-robes again put the Cross upon his back and compel him to bear it All this and much more they express their cruelty by as soon as they had him delivered over to their will So that this was a cruel sentence Thirdly As it was a cruel so it was a rash and hasty sentence The Jews are all in haste consulting all night and early up by the break of day in the morning to get him to his trial They spur on Pilate with all the arguments they can to give sentence His trial took up but one morning and a great part of that was spent in sending him from Caiphas to Pilate and from Pilate to Herod and then back again to Pilate so that it was a hasty and headlong sentence that Pilate gave He did not sift and examine the matter but handles it very slightly The trial of many a mean man hath taken up ten times more debates and time than was spent about Christ. They that look but slightly into the cause easily pronounce and give sentence But that which was then done in haste they have had time enough to repent for since Fourthly As it was a rash and hasty so it was an extorted forced sentence They squeeze it out of Pilate by meer clamor importunity and suggestions of danger In Courts of Judicature such arguments should signifie but little not importunity but proof should carry it but timorous Pilate bends like a Willow at this breath of the people He had neither such a sence of Justice nor spirit of Courage to withstand it Fifthly As it was an extorted so it was an Hypocritical sentence masking horrid murder under a pretence and formality of Law It must look like a legal procedure to paliate the business Loth he was to condemn him lest innocent blood should clamor in his Conscience but since he must do it he will transfer the guilt upon them and they take it His blood be on us and on our children for ever say they Pilate calls for water washes his hands before them and tells them I am free from the blood of this just person But stay free from his blood and yet condemn a known innocent person Free from his blood because he washt his hands in water No no he could never be free except his soul had been washed in that blood he shed O the hypocrisie of Pilate Such juggling as this will not serve his turn when he shall stand as a prisoner before him who now stood arraigned at his Bar. Sixthly and Lastly As it was an Hypocritical so it was an unrevoked sentence It admitted not of a reprieve no not for a day nor doth Christ appeal to any other Judicature or once desire the least delay of the execution But away he is hurried in haste to the execution Blush O ye heavens and tremble O earth at such a sentence as this Now is Christ dead in Law now he knows whither he must be carried and that presently His soul and body must feel that the very sight of which put him into an Agony but the night before Fourthly and Lastly In what manner did Christ receive this cruel and unrighteous sentence He received it like himself with admirable meekness and patience He doth as it were wrap himself up in his own innocency and obedience to his Fathers will and stands at the Bar with invincible patience and meek submission He doth not once desire the Judge to defer the sentence much less fall down and beg for his life as other prisoners use to do at such times No but as a sheep he goes to the slaughter not opening his mouth Some apply that expression to Christ Jam. 5.6 Ye have condemned and killed the just and he resisteth you not From the time that Pilate gave sentence till he was nailed to the Cross we do not read that ever he said any thing save only to the women that followed him out of the City to Golgotha and what he said there rather manifested his pity to them than any discontent at what was now come upon him Daughters of Jerusalem said he weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your children Luk. 23.28 c. O the perfect patience and meekness of Christ The Inferences from hence are Inference 1. Do you see what was here done against Christ under pretence of Law What cause have we to pray for good Laws and righteous executioners of them O 't is a singular mercy to live under good Laws which protect the innocent from injury Laws are hedges about our lives liberties estates and all the comforts we enjoy in this world Times will be evil enough when iniquity is most discountenanced and punished by Law but how evil are those times like to prove when iniquity is established by Law As the Psalmist complains Psal. 94.20 It was the complaint of Pliny to Trajan that whereas crimes were wont to be the burden of the age now Laws were so and that he feared the Common-wealth which was establisht would be subverted by Laws 'T is not like that vertue will much flourish when Iudgement springs up as hemlock in the furrows of the field Hosea 10.4 How much therefore is it our concernment to pray that Iudgement may run down as a mighty stream Amos. 5.24 That our Officers may be peace and our Exactors righteousness Isai. 60.17 It was not therefore without great reason that the Apostle exhorted that supplications prayers intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men For Kings and all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty 1 Tim. 2.1 2. Great is the interest of the Church of God in them They are instruments of much good or evil Inference 2. Was Christ condemned in a Court of Judicature How evident then is it that there is a Iudgement to come after this life Surely things will not be alwaies carried as they are in this world When you see Iesus condemned and Barrabbas released conclude that a time will come when innocency shall be vindicated and wickedness shamed On
God and plenteous redemption for the greatest of Sinners that by Faith apply the blood of the Cross to their poor guilty Souls So speaks the Apostle Col. 1.14 In whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins And 1 Ioh. 1.7 The blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin Two things will make this demonstrable First That there is sufficient efficacy in this blood of the Cross to expiate the greatest Sins Secondly That the efficacy of it is designed and intended by God for believing sinners How clearly do both these propositions lie in the Word First That there is sufficient efficacy in the blood of the Cross to expiate and wash away the greatest sins This is manifest for it is pretious blood as it 's call'd 1. Pet. 1.18 Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the pretious blood of the Son of God This pretiousness of the blood of Christ rises from the union it hath with that person who is over all God blessed for ever And on that account is stiled the blood of God Acts 20.28 And so it becomes Royal Princely blood Yea such for the dignity and efficacy of it as never was created or shall ever run in any other veins but his The blood of all the creatures in the world even a Sea of humane blood bears no more proportion to the pretious and excellent blood of Christ than a dish of common water to a Rivâ—r of liquid Gold On the account of its invaluable pretiousness it becomes satisfying and reconciling blood to God So the Apostle speaks Col. 1.20 And having made peace through the Blood of his Cross by him to reconcile all things to himself by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven The same blood which is Redemption to them that dwell on earth is Confirmation to them that dwell in Heaven Before the efficacy of this blood guilt vanishes and shrinks away as the the shadows before the glorious Sun Every drop of it hath a voice and speaks to the soul that sits trembling under its guilt better things than the blood of Abel Heb. 12.24 It sprinkles us from an evil i. e. an unquiet and accusing conscience Heb. 10.22 For having enough in it to satisfie God it must needs have enough in it to satisfie conscience Conscience can demand no more for its satisfaction nor will it take less than God demands for his satisfaction And in this blood is enough to give both satisfaction Secondly As there is sufficient Efficacy in this blood to expiate the greatest guilt so it 's as manifest that the vertue and efficacy of it is intended and designed by God for the Use of believing sinners Such blood as this was shed without doubt for some weighty end That some might be the better for it Who they are for whom it is intended is plain enough from Acts 13.39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses That the remission of the sins of believers was the great thing designed in the pouring out of this pretious blood of Christ appears from all the Sacrifices that figured it to the ancient Church The sheding of that Typical blood spake a design of pardon And the putting of their hands upon the head of the Sacrifice spake the way and Method of believing by which that blood was then applyed to them in that way and is still applyed to us in a more excellent way Had no pardon been intended no Sacrifices had been appointed Moreover let it be considered this blood of the Cross is the blood of a surety that came under the same obligations with us and in our name or stead shed it and so of course frees and discharges the principal offender or debtor Heb. 7.22 Can God exact satisfaction from the blood and death of his own Son the surety of Believers and yet still demand it from Believers It cannot be Who saith the Apostle shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that Iustifieth Who shall condemn It is Christ that died Rom. 8.33 34. And why are faith and repentance prescribed as the means of pardon Why doth God every where in his word call upon sinners to repent and believe in this blood Encouraging them so to do by so many pretious promises of remission and declaring the inevitable and eternal ruine of all impenitent and unbelieving ones who despise and reject this blood What I say doth all this speak but the possibility of a pardon for the greatest of sinners and the certainty of a free full and final pardon for all believing sinners O what a Joyful sound is this What ravishing voices of peace pardon grace and acceptance come to our ears from the blood of the Cross The greatest guilt that ever was contracted upon a trembling shaking Conscience can stand before the efficacy of the blood of Christ no more than the sinner himself can stand before the Justice of the Lord with all the guilt upon him Reader The word assures thee what ever thou hast been or art that sins of as deep a die as thine have been washt away in this blood I was a blasphemer a persecutor in urious but I obtained mercy saith Paul 1 Tim. 1.13 but it may be thou wilt object this was a rare and singular instance and it 's a great question whether any other sinner shall find the like grace that he did No question of it at all if you believe in Christ as he did for he tells us vers 16. For this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Iesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter belief on him to life everlasting So that upon the same grounds he obtained mercy you may obtain it also Those very men who had an hand in the sheding of Christs blood had the benefit of that blood afterwards pardoning them Act. 2.36 There is nothing but unbelief and impenitency of heart bars thy soul from the blessings of this blood Inference 2. Did Christ die the cursed death of the Cross for believers then though there may be much of pain there is nothing of curse in the death of the Saints It still wears its dart by which it strikes but hath lost its sting by which it hurts and destroys A Serpent that hath no sting may hiss and affright but we may take him in our hand without danger Death poured out all its poison and lost its sting in Christs side when he became a curse for us But what speak I of the innocency and harmlesness of death to believers It is certainly their friend and great benefactor As there is no curse so there are many blessings in it Death is yours 1 Cor. 3.22 Yours as a special priviledge and favour Christ hath not only conquered it but is more than a conqueror
absolutely and properly forgive sin but God only Mark 2.7 the primary and principal wrong is done to him Psalm 51.4 Against thee thee only i. e. thee mainly or especially I have sinned Hence sins are metonymically called debts debts to God Matth. 6.12 not that we owe them to God or ought to sin against him but as a pecuniary debt obliges him that owes it to the penalty if he satisfie not for it so do our sins And who can discharge the Debtor but the Creditor It 's a gratious act or discharge 1 even I am he that blotteth out thy transgression for mine own name sake Isai. 43.25 And yet sin is not so forgiven as that God expects no satisfaction at all but as expecting none from us because God hath provided a surety for us from whom he is satisfied Eph. 1.7 In whom we have Redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace It 's a gratious discharge from the guilt of sin Guilt is that which pardon properly deals with Guilt is an obligation to punishment Pardon is the dissolving of that obligation Guilt is a chain with which sinners are bound and fettered by the Law pardon is that aqua-fortis that eats it asunder and makes the prisoner a free-man The pardoned soul is a discharged soul. Rom. 8.33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of Gods Elect It 's God that justifieth who shall condemn It 's Christ that died It 's Gods discharge of a believing penitent sinner Infidelity and impenitency are not only sins in themselves but such sins as bind fast all other sins upon the soul. By him all that believe are justified from all things Act. 10.43 So Act. 3.19 Repent therefore that your sins may be blotted out This is the method in which God dispenseth pardon to sinners Lastly It is for Christs sake we are discharged he is the meritorious cause of our remission As God for Christs sake hath forgiven you Eph. 4.32 It 's his blood alone that meritoriously procures our discharge This is a brief and true account of the nature of forgiveness Secondly Now to evince the possibility of forgiveness for such as ignorantly oppose Christ. Let these things be weighed First Why should any poor soul that is now humbled for its enmity to Christ in the daies of ignorance question the possibility of forgiveness when this effect doth not exceed the power of the cause nay when there is more efficacy in the blood of Christ the meritorious cause than is in the effect of it There 's power enough in that blood not only to pardon thy sins but the sins of the whole world were it actually applied 1 Iohn 2.2 There is not only a sufficiency but also a redundancy of merit in that pretious blood Surely then thy enmity to Christ especially before thou knewest him may not look like an unpardonable iniquity in thine eyes Secondly And as this sin exceeds not the power of the meritorious cause of forgiveness so neither is it any where excluded from pardon by any word of God Nay such is the extensiveness of the promise to believing penitents that this case is manifestly included and forgiveness tendered to thee in the promises Isai. 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Many such extensive promises there are in the Scriptures And there is not one parenthesis in all those blessed pages in which this case is excepted Thirdly And it is yet more satisfactory that God hath already actually forgiven such sinners and that which he hath done he may again do Yea therefore he hath done it to some and those eminent for their enmity to Christ that others may be incouraged to hope for the same mercy when they also shall be in the same manner humbled for it Take one famous instance of many it 's that of Paul in 1 Tim. 1.13 16. Who was before a blasphemer a persecutor and injurious but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Iesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to everlasting life It 's no small incouragement to a sick man to hear of some that have been recovered out of the same disease and that prevailing in an higher degree than in himself Fourthly Moreover It is encouraging to consider that when God hath cut off others in the way of their sin he hath hitherto spared thee What speaks this but a purpose of mercy to thy soul Thou shouldst account the long suffering of God thy Salvation 2 Pet. 3.15 Had he smitten thee in the way of thy sin and enmity to Christ what hope had remained But in that he hath not only spared thee but also given thee a heart ingenuously ashamed and humbled for thy evils doth not this speak mercy for thee Surely it looks like a gratious design of love to thy soul. Inference 1. And is there forgivenss with God for such as have been enemies to Christ his truths and people Then certainly there is pardon and mercy for the friends of God who involuntarily fall into sin by the surprisals of temptation and are broken for it as ingenious children for offending a good Father Can any doubt if God have pardon for enemies he hath none for children If he have forgiveness for such as shed the blood of Christ with wicked hands he hath not much more mercy and forgiveness for such as love Christ and are more afflicted for their sin against him than all the other troubles they have in the world Doubt it not but he that receives enemies into his bosom will much more receive and embrace children though offending ones How pensive do the dear children of God sometimes sit after their lapses into sin Will God ever pardon this Will he be reconciled again May I hope his face shall be to me as in former times Pensive soul if thou didst but know the largeness tenderness freeness of that grace which yearns over enemies and hath given forth thousands and ten thousands of pardons to the worst of sinners thou wouldst not sink at that rate Inference 2. Is there pardon with God for enemies how inexcusable then are all they that persist and perish in their enmity to Christ Sure their destruction is of themselves Mercy is offered to them if they will receive it Proclamation is made in the Gospel That if there be any among the enemies of Christ who repent of what they have been and done against him and are now unfeignedly willing to be reconciled upon the word of a King he shall find mercy But God shall wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such a one as goâ—th on still in his trespasses Psal. 68.21 If
maintenance is their due Even Christ himself took care for his Mother Secondly You have had a brief account of the duties of this Relation next let us consider how Christs Example who was so subject to them in his life Luk. 2.51 and so careful to provide at his death enforces all those duties upon Children especially upon gratious Children And this it doth two ways both as it hath the obliging power of a Law and as he himself will one day sit in Judgement to take an account how we have imitated him in these things First Christs example in this hath the force and power of a Law yea a Law of Love or a Law lovingly constraining you to an imitation of him If Christ himself will be your pattern If God will be pleased to take Relations like yours and go before you in the discharge of relative Duties Oh how much are you obliged to imitate him and tread in all his footsteps This was by him intended as a president or pattern to facilitate and direct your Duties Secondly He will come to take an account how you have answered the pattern of obedience and tender care he set before you in the days of his flesh What will the disobedient plead in that day He that heard the groans of an afflicted Father or Mother will now come to reckon with the disobedient Child for them And the glorious example of Christs own obedience and tenderness for his Relations will in that day condemn and aggravate silence and shame such wretched Children as shall stand guilty before his Bar. Inference 1. Hath Jesus Christ given such a famous pattern of obedience and tenderness to Parents Then there can be nothing of Christ in stubborn rebellious and careless Children that regard not the good or comfort of their Parents The Children of disobedience cannot be the Children of God If providence direct this to the hand of any that are so my hearts desire and Prayer for them is that the Lord would search their souls by it and discover their evils to them whilst they shall read the following Queries First Query Have you not been guilty of slighting your Parents by irreverent words or carriages the old man or woman To such I commend the consideration of that Scripture Prov. 30.17 Which methinks should be to them as the hand writing that appear'd upon the plaister of the Wall to Belteshazar The eye that mocketh at his Father and despiseth to obey his Mother The Ravens of the Valley shall pick it out and the young Eagles shall eat it That is they shall be brought to an untimely end and the Birds of the air shall eat that eye that had never seen but for that Parent that was despised by it It may be you are vigorous and young they decayed and wrinkled with Age. But saith the Holy Ghost despise not thy Mother when she is old Prov. 23.22 Or when she is wrinkled as the Hebrew signifies It may be you are rich they poor owne and honour them in their poverty and despise them not God will requite it with his hand if you do Second Query Have you not been disobedient to the commands of Parents A Son of Belial is a Son of wrath if God give not Repentance to life Is not this the black brand set upon the Heathens Rom. 1.30 Have not many repented this upon a Ladder with an halter about their necks Woe to him that makes a Father or Mother complain as the Tree in the Fable that they are cloven assunder with the wedges that are cut out of their own bodies Third Query Have you not risen up rebelliously against and hated your Parents for chastening your bodies to save your souls from Hell Some Children saith one will not take that from a Parent which Beasts yea and salvage Beasts too Bears and Lions will take from their keepers What is this but to resist an Ordinance of God for your good And in rebelling against them to rebell against the Lord Well if they do not God will take the Rod into his own hand and him you shall not resist Fourth Query Have you not been unjust to your Parents and defrauded them First help to make them poor and then dispise them because they are poor O horrid wickedness What a complicated evil is this Thou art in the Language of Scripture a companion with destroyers Prov. 28.24 This is the worst of theft in Gods account You think you may make bold with them but how bold do you make with conscience and the command of God Fifth Query Are you not or have you not been ungrateful to Parents Leaving them to shift for themselves in those straights that you have helpt to bring them into Oh consider it Children this is an evil which God will surely avenge except ye repent What to be hardned against thine own flesh To be cruel to thine own Parents that with so much tenderness fed thee when else thou hadst perished I remember Luther gives us a story of one and oh that it might be a warning to all that hear it who having made over all he had to his Son reserving only a maintenance for himself at last his Son depised him and grudged him the very meat he eat and one day the Father coming in when the Son and his Wife were at dinner upon a Goose they shuffled the meat under the Table but see the remarkable vengeance of God upon this ungracious unnatural Son the Goose was turned into a monstrous Toad which seiz'd upon this vile wretch and kill'd him If any of you be guilty of these evils to humble you for them and reclaim you from them I desire these six Considerations may be lay'd to heart First That the effects of your obedience or disobedience will stick upon you and yours to many generations If you be obedient Children in the Lord both you and yours may reap the fruits of that your obedience in multitudes of sweet mercies for many generations So runs the Promise Eph. 6.23 Honour thy Father and Mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with thee and thou maist live long on the earth You know what an eye of favour God cast upon the Recabites for this Ier. 35.8 from the 14. to the 20. verse and as his blessings are by promise entailed on the obedient so his curse upon the disobedient Prov. 20.20 Whoso curseth his Father or his Mother his Lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness i. e. the Lamp of his life quencht by death yea say others and his soul also by the blackness of darkness in Hell Secondly Though other sins do this sin seldom escapes exemplary punishment even in this world Our English History tells us of a Yeoman of Leicestershire who had made over all he had to his Son to prefer him in marriage reserving only a bare maintenance at his Sons Table Afterward upon some discontent the Son bid his Father get out of his
That Iesus Christ hath perfected and compleatly finished the great work of Redemption committed to him by God the Father To this great truth the Apostle gives a full testimony Heb. 10.14 By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified And to the same purpose speaks Joh. 17.4 I have glorified thee on earth I have finished the work thou gavest me to do Concerning this work and the finishing thereof by Jesus Christ upon the Cross we shall enquire what this work was how Christ finished it and what evidence can be produced for the finishing of it First What was the work which Christ finished by his death It was the fulfilling the whole Law of God in our room and for our Redemption as a Sponsor or surety for us The Law is a glorious thing The holiness of God that fiery attribute is engraven or stampt upon every part of it Deut. 33.2 From his right hand went a fiery Law The jealousie of the Lord watched over every point and tittle of it for his dreadful and glorious name was upon it It cursed every one that continued not in all things contained therein Gal. 3.10 Two things therefore were necessarily required in him that should perfectly fulfil it and both found in our surety and in him only viz. a subjective and effective perfection First A subjective perfection He that wanted this could never say it is finished Perfect working always follows a perfect being That he might therefore finiâ—h this great work of obedience and therein the glorious design of our Redemption loe in what shining and perfect holiness was he produced Luk. 1.35 That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God and indeed such an High-Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 7.26 So that the Law could have no exception against his person Nay it was never so honoured since its first promulgation as it was by having such a perfect and excellent person as Christ to stand at its Bar and give it due reparation Secondly There must be also an effective perfection or a perfection of working and obeying before it could be said it is finished This Christ had for he continued in all things written in the Law to do them He fulfilled all righteousness as it behoved him to do Matth. 3.15 He did all that was required to be done And suffered all that was requisite to be sufferâ—d He did and suffered all that was commanded or threatned in such perfection of obedience both active and passive that the pure eye of divine Justice could not find a flaw in it And so finished the work his Father gave him to do And this work finished by our Lord Jesus Christ was both a necessary difficult and pretious work First It was a necessary work which Christ finished upon the Cross. Necessary upon a threefold account It was necessary on the Fathers account I do not mean that God was under any necessity from his nature of redeeming us this or any other way For our Redemption is opus liberi consilii an effect of the free counsel of God but when God had once decreed and determined to redeem and save poor sinners by Jesus Christ then it became necessary that the counsel of God should be fulfilled Act. 4.28 To do whatsoever thy hand and counsel had before determined to be done Secondly It was necessary with respect to Christ. Upon the account of that previous compact that was betwixt the Father and him about it Therefore it 's said by Christ himself Luk. 22.22 Truly the Son of Man goeth as it was determined i. e. as it was fore-agreed and covenanted under the necessity of fulfilling his engagement to the Father he came into the world and being come he still minds his engagement Joh. 9.3 I must work the works of him that sent me Thirdly Yea and it was no less necessary upon our account that this work should be finished For had not Christ finished this work sin had quickly finished all our lives comforts and hopes Without the finishing this work not a Son or Daughter of Adam could ever have seen the face of God Therefore it 's said Joh. 3.14 15. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life On all these accounts the finishing of this work was necessary Secondly As it was necessary this work should be finished so the finishing of it was exceeding difficult It cost many a cry many a groan many a tear many a hard tug before Christ could say it is finished All the Angels in Heaven were not able by their united strength to lift that burden one inch from the ground which Christ bare upon his shoulders yea and bare it away But how heavy a burden this was may in part appear by his propassion in the Garden and the bitter out-crys he made upon the Cross which in their proper places have been opened Thirdly and Lastly It was a most pretious work which Christ finished by his death That work was dispatched and finished in few hours which will be the matter of everlasting songs and triumphs to the Angels and Saints to all eternity O it was a pretious work The mercies that now flow out of this fountain viz. Justification Sanctification Adoption c. are not to be valued Besides the endless happiness and glory of the coming-world which cannot enter into the heart of man to conceive If the Angels sang when the foundation stone was laid what shouts what triumphs should there be among the Saints when this voice is heard It is finished Secondly Let us next inform our selves how and in what manner Jesus Christ finished this glorious work And if you search the Scriptures upon that account you will find that he finished it obedientially freely diligently and fully First This blessed work was finished by Jesus Christ most obediently Phil. 2.8 He became obedient to death even the death of the Cross. His obedience was the obedience of a servant though not servile obedience So it was foretold of him before he touched this work Isai. 50.5 The Lord God hath opened mine ear and I was not rebellious neither turned away back i. e. my Father told me the very worst of it He told me what hard and heavy things I must undergo if ever I finished this design of redemption and I was not rebellious i. e. I heartily submitted to and accepted all those difficulties For there is a Meiosis in the words I was content to stoop to the hardest and most ignominious part of it rather than not finish it Secondly As Christ finished it obediently so he finished it freely Freedom and obedience in acting are not at all opposite to or exclusive of each other Moses his Mother nursed him in obedience to the command of Pharaohs daughter yet most
also You see how the Rivers in their course will not be checkt but bear down all obstacles in their way Saevior ab obice ibit A stop doth but make them rage the more and run the swifter afterwards There is a Central force in these natural motions which cannot be stopt And the like may you observe in the motions of a renewed soul Ioh. 4.14 It shall be in him as a Well of water springing up And is it not hard for you to keep it down or turn its course How hard did Ieremy and David find that work If you do not live holy lives you must cross your own new nature violate the Law that 's written in your own hearts and engraven upon your own bowels To this purpose a late Writer speaks Till you were converted saith he the flesh was predominant and therefore it was impossible for you to live any other than a fleshly life for every thing will act according to its predominant principle Should you not therefore live a spiritual life Should not the Law of God witten in your hearts be legible in your lives O should not your lives be according to the tendency of your hearts thus he Doubtless this is no swall advantage to practical holiness But Secondly Besides this principle within you have no small assistance for the purity of life by these excellent patterns before you The path of holiness is no untrodden path to you Christ and his Servants have beaten it before you The life of Christ is your Copy and it is a fair Copy indeed without a blot Oh what an advantage is this to draw all the lines of your actions according to his example This glorious grand example is often prest upon you for imitation Heb. 12.2 Looking to Iesus he hath left you an example that ye should tread in his steps 1 Pet. 2.21 His life is a living rule to his people and besides Christs example for you may say who can live as Christ did His example is quite above us you have a cloud of witnesses A cloud for its directive Use and these men of like passions temptations and constitutions with you who have gone before you in exemplary holiness The Holy Ghost intending therein your special help and advantage hath set many industrious pens awork to write the lines of the Saints and preserve for your use their holy sayings and heavenly actions He bids you take them for an example Jam. 5.10 Oh what excellent men are past on before you What renowned Worthies have led the way Men whose conversations were in Heaven whilst they Tabernacled on earth Whilst this lower world had their bodies the world above had their hearts their affections their actions their designs were all for Heaven Men that improved troubles and comforts losses and gains smiles and frowns and all for Heaven Men that did extract Heaven out of Spirituals out of Temporals out of all things their hearts were full of heavenly meditations their mouths of heavenly communications and their practices of heavenly inclinations O what singular help is this Where they followed Christ and kept the way they are propounded for your imitation and where any of them turned aside you have a mark set upon that action for your caution and prevention Doth any strange or unusual tryal befall you in which you are ready to say with the Church Lam. 1.12 Was there ever any sorrow like unto my sorrow Here you may see the same affliction accomplisht in your brethren 1 Pet. 5.9 Here 's store of good company to encourage you Doth the world and Devil endeavor to turn you from your duty by loading it with shameful scoffs or sufferings In this case you may look to Iesus who dispised the shame and to your Brethren who counted it their honour to be dishonoured for the name of Christ as the Original of the Text Act. 5.41 may be translated Is it a dishonour to thee to be rankt with Abraham Moses David and such as were the glory of the Ages they lived in Art thou at any time under a faint fit of discouragement and ready to despond under any burden oh how maist thou be animated by such examples when such a qualm comes over thy heart Some sparks of their holy courage cannot choose but steal into thy breast whilst thou considerest them In them God hath set before thee the possibility of overcoming all difficulties thou seest men of the same mould who had the same tryals discouragements and fears that thou now hast and yet overcame all How is thy unbelief checkt when thou saist Oh I shall never reach the end I shall one day utterly perish Why dost thou say so Why may not such a poor creature as thou art be carried through as well as they Had not they the same temptations and corruptions with you Were not they all troubled with a naughty heart an ensnaring world a busie Devil as well as you Alas when they put on the divine they did not put off the humane nature but complained and feared as you do and yet were carried through all Oh what an advantage have you this way They that first trusted in Christ had not such an help as you You stand upon their shoulders You have the benefit of their experiences You that are fallen into the last times have certainly the best helps to holiness And yet will not you live strictly and purely Will you put on the name and profession of Christians and yet be lofty in your spirits earthly in your designs neglective of duty frothy in your communions Pray from which of all the Saints did you learn to be proud Did you learn that from Christ or any of his From which of his Saints did you learn to be earthly and covetous passionate oâ— censorious over-reaching and crafty If you have read of any such evils committed by them have you not also read of their shame and sorrow their repentance and reformations If you have found any such blots in their lives it was left there designedly to prevent the like in yours Oh what an help to holiness is this Thirdly And this is not all You have not only a principle within you and a pattern before you but you have also an Omnipotent assistant to help and encourage you throughout your way Are you feeble and infirm and is every temptation even the weakest strong enough to turn you out of the way of your Duty Lo God hath sent his Spirit to help your infirmities Rom. 8.26 no matter then how weak you are how many and mighty your difficulties and temptations are as long as you have such an assistant to help you Great is your advantage for a holy life this way also For 1. First When a temptation to sin presses sore upon you he pleads with your consciences within whilst Satan is tempting without How often hath he brought such Scriptures to your remembrance in the very nick of opportunity as have saved